As a clarification .. you need a 3500 calorie DEFICIT to lose 1 lb (as a general guideline .. people are different and the real number depends on other factors) Your calorie deficit is the difference between what you eat and what you burn ... where what you burn includes the calories your body uses just to keep you alive (called your BMR) PLUS additional calories from your daily activities (including exercise). (That is to say, in your post you said "unless I work it off", but you are working off a huge portion just by staying alive .. your BMR is a very large fraction of the total calories you burn in a day).

FS's RDI is based on it's estimate of the calories you burn in a day = your BMR (based on age, weight, sex, and maybe other factors) + it's estimate of calories you burn during your daily activities (based on those factors plus what you indicated as your "activity level&quot. If you said that you want to lose 1 lb a week, then FS's RDI is around 500 calories less than what it thinks you burn in a day.

There are various websites that will estimate your BMR (calculator.net is my favorite), and you can get a clue of what FS thinks if you look at what it says it thinks you burn during 24 hours of sleep + rest (in the exercise journal before you enter any other activities).

If you enter activities in your exercise journal, it will show you it's estimate of the total calories you burned that day based on what you enter (rather than an estimate based on your "activity level&quot, and on the fatsecret.com website, will show you your calorie deficit. (On the mobile app, I can't find where it shows the deficit directly .. but you can calculate it by subtracting what you burn - what you eat).

If you don't want to record your exercise, then you can use the RDI as a general guideline. Some people have said that they think it is too high. As you track your progress, you will learn what works for you.

I am 64 year female average about 30 to 45 minutes a day of light exercise due to a robotic hip , I walk briskly and change the pace 5x a week is this helping my weight loss along with diet. I have lost about 35 lbs. last 5 months . I really don't count calories until today , Am I on the right track !

#1: Devour Food With A Low Glycemic Load!#2: Devour Food With A High Nutrient Density!#3: Devour A Micro-Feast Every 2 to 3 Hours!

If you want, I can send you more details on how to do this...

#1. Has nothing to do with calories.

#2. Has everything to do with preference.

#3. Is also just a preference. The total thermic effect of food is the same regardless of meal frequency.

The most important thing is just calorie deficit. That's it. It's really very simple. Why do we make up excuses and magic approaches?

Because it doesn't make for exciting headlines. Also, people fail so much by not adhering to that calorie goal(overestimating exercise expenditure and underreporting intake by not weighing portions or omitting items) or sticking to their goal but then don't count on the weekends which causes them to "spin their wheels".

This is how you burn body-fat:... #3: Devour A Micro-Feast Every 2 to 3 Hours!

This concept is based on the idea that longer intervals between meals lowers the metabolic rate and this defeats the person's weight-loss goal.

On the contrary: The body responds to food consumption (particularly carbohydrate) by releasing the hormone insulin. That hormone also facilitates conversion of *excess* blood glucose into stored fat.

Hyperinsulinemia therefore encourages fat storage AND, if one is insulin-resistant (as more and more people are these days), consuming food frequently keeps insulin levels high and accelerates fat storage and, therefore, weight gain.

Based on newer scientific research, eliminating between-meal snacks and limiting consumption to two (or one) meal(s) per day keeps insulin levels low. Combined with a LCHF, this facilitates fat burning.

This is how you burn body-fat:... #3: Devour A Micro-Feast Every 2 to 3 Hours!

This concept is based on the idea that longer intervals between meals lowers the metabolic rate and this defeats the person's weight-loss goal.

On the contrary: The body responds to food consumption (particularly carbohydrate) by releasing the hormone insulin. That hormone also facilitates conversion of *excess* blood glucose into stored fat.

Hyperinsulinemia therefore encourages fat storage AND, if one is insulin-resistant (as more and more people are these days), consuming food frequently keeps insulin levels high and accelerates fat storage and, therefore, weight gain.

Based on newer scientific research, eliminating between-meal snacks and limiting consumption to two (or one) meal(s) per day keeps insulin levels low. Combined with a LCHF, this facilitates fat burning.

I actually went to the examine.com site very interesting points. Ty for suggesting it Diablo360x very informative. There are actually a lot of great links on this page that steered me in the right direction as to what I had been led to believe most of my life.

Hey, does anyone know of a good chart or reference where I can determine calories lost based on quantity of exercise, that includes "walking"? I looked on this website, and they have a very thorough list of activities, but as I have an autoimmune form of arthritis, there are some days I cannot run or do highly aerobic or strenuous activity, so the option is walking. I may have just overlooked it, but could not locate "walking" calories burned.............anyone who has any suggestions, I would be appreciative. Just recently lost 23 lbs doing HCG and super low calorie diet, now moving up to 800-1000 calories per day w/gentle exercise and trying to keep track of it all.

Squat lowbar and use good form (i.e. hip joint lower than surface of the knee before you press up again), and you've got your glute exercise, although I think anyone asking should probably start with ...